Where has the Sharpmaker BEEN all my life?

[Don Gwinn]

Mine arrived today, and now all my knives shave. I love it! Far better than the Lansky, now that I've tried both.

Merry Christmas to me!

If anyone is wondering whether it's worth the price, the answer is yes.

 

[R.H. Lee]

I've been raving about the Sharpmaker ever since I got one several years ago. Did you get the video with it?

 

[NMshooter]

OK, let me be the slow kid in class:

Sharpmaker?

 

[R.H. Lee]

Spyderco Sharpmaker

 

[Don Gwinn]

Spyderco's Tri-Angle Sharpmaker.

Awesome sharpening and dirt simple. And yes, the DVD came with it. It was kinda neat.

 

[Valkman]

I use it to finish the knives I make - it gets them sharp and is easy for the user to take care of. Other than that it sharpens every thing around including serrations!

 

[Schuey2002]

I can't sharpen spit on my 204. My BM551 is still as dull as the day is long..

(Perhaps I need to take a course in knive sharpening. Sharpmaker 101, if you will..)

 

[JJE]

Unless you're a masochistic free-stone sharpening advocate, you need a Sharpmaker! If it doesn't work for you, read the instructions again and keep at it.

Common mistakes:

-sitting down while you sharpen (harder to keep knife vertical)
-not raising a burr (if you can't feel a burr you may not have even touched the edge)
-not removing the burr once its there (makes you think the edge is sharp, when it really isn't)
-moving to the white stones before you've properly sharpened with the brown ones

Marking the edge with a Sharpie marker is pretty helpful - you can see if you are actually touching the edge. Usually the 40 degree angle will more closely match a production edge, although a very thin kitchen knife may have closer to a 30 degree edge. The marker trick will reveal which angle is closest to the one already on the knife.

Also, a knife steel is handy for removing the burr. The Sharpmaker instructions describe how to remove a burr on the stones, but it's much easier for me to do it with a steel.

 

[NMshooter]

Oh, I should not have asked that question.

I clicked on that link and was immediately overcome with a NEED for not only a Sharpmaker but another Gerber multitool. I have three already.

Well, it isn't like it was another rifle...

 

[hso]

Don,

How is it that you of all people here haven't gotten a Sharpmaker before this? I've got 3 laying around and I've had them for nearly a decade.

Schuey,

If you can't get an edge with a Sharpmaker it's you and not the tool. You've got to be failing to keep the knife vertical while making the down stroke or your using one side without feeling for the wire edge and rolling your edge over. If you can move the blade from up to down while holding the blade vertical then you should be able to get a good edge. You want to start by working one side until you get a wire edge on the opposite. Then work that side on the opposite stick until you just get a wire edge on the blade on the opposite side. Then a stroke or two on the first stone again and you should have a cutting edge.

 

[Valkman]

Those sticks "load up" with steel on the corners and become less effective, so every couple of knives I wipe them down with steel wool. Takes all that stuff off and they're good as new.

Also, keep your hand behind the brass guards! I tend to let my off hand slide closer to hold it better and cut it once. Don't do that.

More tips from your Uncle Don.

 

[Optical Serenity]

I love the Sharpmaker, its IMO the best darn thing Spyderco makes!

I have used it on everything from Strider folders, to Becker tool steel fixed blades, to Emerson kerambits, great great device! Makes all my stuff razor sharp.

 

[Don Gwinn]

hso, I just don't know.

All I can tell you is that I've wanted one for a few years now (never heard of it before that) but there was always some other use for that money. And I thought I was pretty good with simple flat stones. . . and I didn't think the Lansky was all that great.

Of course the Sharp Maker is not even the same concept as the Lansky (and I mean no disrespect to people who like the Lansky, it just seemed like too much trouble for too little result to me.) And although I can make a knife shave with a flat stone, the Sharp Maker just makes it simple. Simplicity is good!

I must be getting old; I spend more on dies, safes and sharpeners than guns or knives nowadays.

 

[Schuey2002]

You want to start by working one side until you get a wire edge on the opposite. Then work that side on the opposite stick until you just get a wire edge on the blade on the opposite side. Then a stroke or two on the first stone again and you should have a cutting edge.

Thanks, hso! That did the trick!!

 

[hso]

Thanks, hso! That did the trick!!

My pleasure.

Be careful not to get carried away and "sharpen" your knife away (It's easy to get the sharpening fever once you get past that mental speedbump that was throwing you off). You'll want to work out the minimum number of strokes for each side to get the edge working well, but once you get the hang of sharpening you'll work that out quickly.

 

[bigjim]

Let me voice a dissenting opinion. I do not like the Sharpmaker. I find being stuck with the thick edges it forces you to use to be to restricting.

1. Most knife bevels don't match the spyderco Sharpmaker presets. This means lots of re-profiling work in order to use it.

2. Limited bevel angle choices

3. Kit is missing a set of really course sticks. This means you really need to be able to set bevels by hand to use the sharpmaker or be ready to sharpen for hours. If you can set bevels by hand then why would you need the sharpmaker in the first place??

4. Way to expensive. 50 dollars for a plastic block and a few crock sticks?
This thing should be 20 bucks tops.

On the up side I find the sticks useful for use in my hand. I can hog off metal from overly thick factory edges with Diamond hones and oval rods then polish with the Spyderco ceramic sticks. Try holding the sticks in your hand and using them like files on the blade. After some practice you can FEEL when you have the angle right and can get great control in this way.

The edges of the sticks are good for serrations. The rods clean up easy when they get glazed.

The fine rods when used to finish a edge leave the polish almost done. Just a little strop and your good to go.

I just do not think there will ever a tool that replaces being able to create edges with your hand due to weird blade shapes, acute angles and other out of the box situations. Therefor the utility of these "aids" and "guides" is much less after you develop the base skills.

In the end its just a another tool, one with limitations that get annoying once to you try to go past sharping a drop point blade with edge bevels that closely match Spydercos idea of correct.

 

[hso]

1. Most knife bevels don't match the spyderco Sharpmaker presets. This means lots of re-profiling work in order to use it.

I'll agree that many factory bevels don't, but I've not found most don't.

2. Limited bevel angle choices

Not a very fair comparison considering you have an infinite set of choices with free hand sharpening and must by the very nature of any system with presets have limited bevel angle choices.

3. Kit is missing a set of really course sticks. This means you really need to be able to set bevels by hand to use the sharpmaker or be ready to sharpen for hours. If you can set bevels by hand then why would you need the sharpmaker in the first place??

Spyderco has diamond sleves available for folks that want to move a lot of metal,but since I've seen only a few knives that don't fit one of the 2 angels on the Sharpmaker this complaint seems to be a particular problem only for those knives that don't.

4. Way to expensive. 50 dollars for a plastic block and a few crock sticks? This thing should be 20 bucks tops.

Perhaps, but then let's consider that the triangle cross section is much more difficult for the American manufacturer, Coors Technical Ceramics, to produce for Spyderco than the round crock sticks used by Gatco and Lansky.

On the up side I find the sticks useful for use in my hand. I can hog off metal from overly thick factory edges with Diamond hones and oval rods then polish with the Spyderco ceramic sticks. Try holding the sticks in your hand and using them like files on the blade. After some practice you can FEEL when you have the angle right and can get great control in this way.

The edges of the sticks are good for serrations. The rods clean up easy when they get glazed.

The fine rods when used to finish a edge leave the polish almost done. Just a little strop and your good to go.

Yup. Spyderco also sells bench stone versions that are great for this as well.

They also sell a set of ceramic 'files'.

I just do not think there will ever a tool that replaces being able to create edges with your hand due to weird blade shapes, acute angles and other out of the box situations. Therefor the utility of these "aids" and "guides" is much less after you develop the base skills.

Absolutely, I agree 100%! There is no way that a Sharpmaker, or any other jig system for that matter, beats being able to sharpen free hand. Heck, I've redressed edges on knifes in the field with the top of a car window.

 

[bigjim]

hso.....

Everything you say is of course true. As were all my complaints. This is not a matter of who is right but rather a matter of perspective.

For you despite the limitations built into the product you generally approve of it and find it useful. This allows you to see past some of its short comings and recomend the product.

I can not since although even for me it has uses, and I am not sure there is a better "jig" set made, I can not get get past all the things I can not do with it.

Also very few of the 50 or so knives I own have primary bevels anywhere near the over blunt Spyderco presets of 30 or 40. Most of my knives when purchased are far BLUNTER and THICKER. You will die of old age trying to get a good edge on a HI khuk with this thing. Its getting hard to find a Knife make now a days that understands that ALL knives are not entry tools.

I mean good God what is the point of spending the amounts of money we do on S30V knives for instance. Then useing them with an AXE like edge bevel of 30 or 40 degrees? Does not matter how sharp you get it, it will not slice or cut up to par. On the other hand take a cheap 1095 steal knife with a good heat treat and thin that edge out to 10 degrees or so. Now That baby will cut!

My wife used to use and be happy with what ever knife she could fine on the drawer. Some time back I let her use my Wustoff knives with the edges thinned down to about 10 degress or so. She never cusses because she is a old school lady but she told me I was a selfish bastard for holding back on her with the nice knives. I catch her sneaking to use them now to slice tomatos and onions. As long as she remembers to use a cutting board and does not chop with my knives on a ceramic plate the marriage will survive.

 

[Zeke/PA]

Those sticks "load up" with steel on the corners and become less effective, so every couple of knives I wipe them down with steel wool. Takes all that stuff off and they're good as new.

Also, keep your hand behind the brass guards! I tend to let my off hand slide closer to hold it better and cut it once. Don't do that.

More tips from your Uncle Don.

The manufacturer suggests running the "loaded up" stones a cycle or two in the dishwasher.
I have owned a Sharpmaker for about five years and I love it.
Respectfully, Zeke

 

[Coronach]

I prefer the Lansky to the Sharpmaker, but both work well. The Lansky is more precise and offers more blade bevel options. The Sharpmaker is dead dirt simple, and can do a nice job on recurved blades if you use the edges of the stones.

Mike

 

[hso]

Also very few of the 50 or so knives I own have primary bevels anywhere near the over blunt Spyderco presets of 30 or 40. Most of my knives when purchased are far BLUNTER and THICKER. You will die of old age trying to get a good edge on a HI khuk with this thing. Its getting hard to find a Knife make now a days that understands that ALL knives are not entry tools.

I mean good God what is the point of spending the amounts of money we do on S30V knives for instance. Then useing them with an AXE like edge bevel of 30 or 40 degrees? Does not matter how sharp you get it, it will not slice or cut up to par. On the other hand take a cheap 1095 steal knife with a good heat treat and thin that edge out to 10 degrees or so. Now That baby will cut!

I love that! I get a kick out of the tackykool makers that think a sharpened prybar is the be-all do-all knife. I've got a Grandfors Bruks forrester axe for chopping or my Finnish brush hook 'hatchet' for lighter chopping and various knives from heavy camp to fine 2 1/2 in. detail blades. There ain't one knife that does it all.

My wife used to use and be happy with what ever knife she could fine on the drawer. Some time back I let her use my Wustoff knives with the edges thinned down to about 10 degress or so. She never cusses because she is a old school lady but she told me I was a selfish bastard for holding back on her with the nice knives. I catch her sneaking to use them now to slice tomatos and onions. As long as she remembers to use a cutting board and does not chop with my knives on a ceramic plate the marriage will survive.

I can't trust my wife not to abuse any knife so I keep 'my' kitchen knives in a drawer out of sight to keep her from grabbing one and heading out the door and grubbing some damn plant out of the ground with it:banghead: . At least your wife seems to be able to learn while no amount of explaining seems to sink in with mine.

 

[huaco]

My only problem with the Sharpmaker is that it's a $50 tool that I hardly ever use. After I bought my Benchmade 943 I felt obliged to be able to sharpen it well so I bought the Sharpmaker. The knife holds an edge well and though carried daily doesn't see much use. I strop it occasionally but don't see any need to wear it down unnecessarily since stropping keeps it sharp. I have used the Sharpmaker to sharpen some of our kitchen knives and some for friends who were impressed but it really doesn't get used very much. I don't regret buying it. It's nice to know I have a good tool available when I need it no matter how infrequently it happens.

 

[P95Carry]

I have a few sharpeners Don but this one seems like it could out-perform the others.

Hmmm - more expense darn you

 

[mrmeval]

I've watched a knife maker sharpen his knifes.

If it's minor it goes on the polishing wheel and polished to a razor edge.

If it's damaged it may need to go on the belt sander with the apropriate grit first.

Worse damage may need filing and beyond that it would require welding or reforging or both first.

Let me voice a dissenting opinion. I do not like the Sharpmaker. I find being stuck with the thick edges it forces you to use to be to restricting.

 

[Valkman]

I can't imagine filing or welding a blade! There's all kinds of ways knifemakers sharpen knives from belt sharpening to stones to Lanky-type machines to leather wheels to the Tormex Super Grind. I take it down with a 220 grit belt to where I use the Sharpmaker and go from there. I like giving the customer an edge he/she can sharpen when they need to.